Zeng Fuping (L), deputy chief of Huanjiang, is presented with the "Pioneer of the Year" certificate by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing on Jan 21. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zeng Fuping, deputy chief of Huanjiang Maonan autonomous county, Hechi, Guangxi, was granted the "Pioneer of the Year" award by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing on Jan 21 for his work as a researcher at the CAS's Institute of Subtropical Agriculture.

Aimed at motivating more people to pursue science, the CAS singled out six individuals and two teams for their scientific contributions in 2018. The winners were decided after a preliminary assessment, online voting and group verdict.

Two researchers were named "Innovator of the Year", two were named "Pioneer of the Year", and two more were awarded for their touching moves. The winning teams were the team that developed a somatic cell cloned monkey and a Party branch stationed in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Zeng Fuping (C) participates in the CAS award ceremony in Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zeng Fuping, known as the "poverty alleviator" by locals, has been working tirelessly for 25 years to relieve poverty since he arrived in Huanjiang in July 1994. One of his greatest achievements is building the nation's first poverty alleviation pilot site with a new system for forging cooperation among technological departments, companies, and farming households. This achievement was a milestone in ecosystem restoration and reconstruction.

People who have moved to the demonstration base now enjoy a much better quality of life than people in surrounding areas. Their per capita net income reached 9,426 yuan ($1,399.97) in 2017, over 30 times higher than the 300 yuan they earned in 1996.

The first State-level karst agricultural ecosystem observation and research station, as well as the only field research test station in any karst area in Southwest China, were co-founded by Zeng and other researchers. They play an important role in facilitating a large number of critical projects in Huanjiang, offering technical support for local environmental development and poverty reduction.

Zeng Fuping has won many honorary titles, including "Outstanding Member of the Communist Party in Guangxi", "National Outstanding Party Member" and "Top 10 Pioneers in Guangxi".

A group photo of award winners and performers at the CAS award ceremony in Beijing [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]